Even though Ezzy woke up at 4 am, right on time to score some black Friday deals, we spent our black Friday safely indoors, avoiding all the retail madness. Instead we fired up the stove for round 2 of Thanksgiving festivities, this time serving up a vegetarian feast. Grandma Kathleen and Grandpa Brett came over with Tofurkey, and we served up all the traditional sides and feasted till my belly was ready to burst. And it was a lovely, rainy day. Perfect for snuggling up in some cozy sweaters and stuffing ourselves to the gills. This was my first time trying tofurkey, and it was pretty delicious. Ezzy scarfed down some sweet potatoes for the second day in a row. He ate one full bowl, then threw a fit when he realized there was no more. He proceeded to eat an entire second helping of sweet potatoes, lunging toward the spoon whenever it got within a few inches of his face. He's only six months old, but he already understands what this whole Thanksgiving feasting is all about.

Thursday morning was spent baking apple pies (I used this recipe) and butternut squash mac & cheese (a combo of two recipes: one & two). Then we packed up and headed over to my Aunt Linda's for a huge feast. Melissa and Taylor beelined for Ezzy as soon as we got there, and they never strayed far from his sight for the rest of the evening. He was a little shy at first, but before long he was cracking up at their little games and showing off for Taylor (ie - pounding on his chest like Tarzan - my cute lil barbarian). The boys watched football, I caught up with the girls, and Ezzy was passed around and loved on from relative to relative. Food + family = Thanksgiving at its finest. Hard to believe that last year Ezzy was barely visible in my belly, and this year he's such a vibrant personality, bringing a smile to everyone's face.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Joe and I have so much to be thankful for this year. We both agree that this has been the best year of our lives so far. Ezra is the biggest blessing. I love watching him grow and learn and develop a personality right before my eyes. He's such a sweet, smiley, silly baby. I love watching Joe take on the role of father. He's a natural. Ezra lights up when he walks through the door at night. And he loves weekends spent in Daddy's arms, or cuddled on the couch watching football with Daddy. Seeing the two of them together melts my heart. I'm also so thankful for all the love and gifts Ezra has been showered with this year. Ezra is one lucky boy to be surrounded by so much love. And I'm especially looking forward to spending Ezzy's first holiday season visiting with family and friends, both near and far. The next few weeks will be jam-packed with food, and family, and new holiday traditions. It will be the best kind of hectic, and I want to savor every minute of it.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

On Sunday Joe and I took Ezzy to play in the snow. This was obviously his first snow experience, and neither Joe or I had seen snow in years either. My last snow trip was the first and last time I attempted snowboarding. Not my cup of tea. I don't do well on slippery surfaces; I'm clumsy enough on dry, flat ground. For our snow day we went to Mt. Baldy, which is just a short drive for us. When we got there, most of the snow was on a steep hillside, which many small children were climbing up and down with no problem, but I'm not that adventurous or coordinated, so we enjoyed the views from the bottom of the hillside. It really was gorgeous, I loved the snowy pines on the mountain peaks. Ezzy seemed to enjoy it overall, although I think it was just another outdoor hike for him. Except for the fact that he was all bundled up like a little Eskimo, which honestly was my favorite part. My squishy little marshmallow. Those two make my heart burst.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Saturday was an unusually gloomy kind of day for LA. Although Joe and I both like gloomy weather, so maybe gloomy isn't the right word for it. We'll just call it a gray day, and it also happened to be a perfect zoo day. Supposedly the animals are more likely to be out and about on cooler days than when it's scorching hot, which makes sense to me. And we did see almost all of the animals, except the ocelot, who was in hiding, so there must be some truth to it. Highlight for Joe: that dark brown deer-like animal with the crazy-long gray tongue. Highlight for me: those cute deer/antelope creatures eating leaves off the tree. Highlights for Ezzy: purple flowers, several waterfalls, watching a shuttle drive by us, and the cute girl at the chimp exhibit. He also seemed somewhat entranced by the carousel. Even though he didn't smile or show much emotion whatsoever, he did stare intently at the lights on the ceiling, and at one point he made eye contact with Joe waving to us from the sidelines and swiveled his head around to look. You can watch video of Ezzy's first carousel ride here. We were there for about four hours and we had one tired baby by the end of the day.